No cure for aging

March 5, 2015 betsyjbell 2 Comments

Gentle Reader,

In my Facebook inbox this morning came, “There’s no cure for aging, so embrace it.” I thought this is a post just for me. It sings my tune. Plays my tambourine. One of the comments let a little air out of the balloon by speaking truth to all of us songbirds of perpetual spring.

Tommie Montgomery Leydsman

There are many aspects to aging that are, quite frankly, NOT what you are dying to experience! Knees that dare you to move in the morning, BEFORE you have taken one of countless relievers of pain. Haphazard sleeping patterns, I mean who doesn’t love to wake up feeling refreshed at 3 A.M. , but dead asleep again at 4 A.M., only to wake up AGAIN at 5 A.M., pushing away at an annoying object on your chin. That object, of course, being the book you began reading at 3 A.M. !!!

The countless solicitations in the mail letting you know that the countdown clock has slipped into fast forward. You receive reminders like refrigerator magnets for funeral homes. I have always wanted to know whom I should contact after my demise. Not to mention the number of aging services that send you click style ballpoint pens, because our little fingers find it too hard to take the cap off a Bic.

However, there are upsides. I could fill my social calendar with invitations to hear people “advise” me on the best way to invest my entitlements, a.k.a., Social Security! Are they kidding? No, but they do provide “refreshments.” What I want to know is how every hearing aid company got my address? This group is especially devious. They send out envelopes, the size and quality of an upscale wedding invitation, with your name handwritten on the envelope. They invite you, in EXTREMELY LARGE PRINT (because your eyes are also going) to come in and try on some all but invisible hearing aids. I’m wondering if they are the same kind that the Secret Service uses, you know, the ones that they couldn’t hear out of when the White House perimeter was breeched?! *snarky laugh here*

I also love my copies of the AARP and Costco magazines, with aging celebrities on the cover, who don’t EVEN look like they are aging. When you read the articles, these people are going on Safari’s, taking hot air balloon rides over the Serengeti, car racing, starting new businesses (probably using their windfall SS checks as startup money.) You’ve got to watch these “entitlement generation oldies.” They’re a slippery lot!!!!

BUT…………….. All in all, I am embracing the process. Very happy to be aging, happily!
ENJOY THE VIDEO!!!
>

What’s better than the truth? The simple add-on: Very happy to be aging.

I natter on in these pages about strategies to slow the process down, to mask the symptoms or attempt to correct the problems with exercise, therapies and supplements. It seems to be a more positive approach; a going with the flow while using every available oar to navigate the rapids. Why not? I’m not in favor of the alternatives: sitting down, going deaf, searching for bigger and bigger print (I’m typing at 140% as it is. That way I don’t have to lean over to see the screen and can maintain an upright back posture. Hehehe)

Most of you, my faithful readers, are in the game to go out dancing, so let’s keep sharing our ideas for how to do that with aplomb.

Love you all,

Be well, Do well and Keep moving,

Betsy

206 933 1889

www.grandmabetsybell.com/be-well/ thoughts on how to stay healthy

www.HiHoHealth.com shopping for Shaklee products

Vivix the anti aging tonic. I love my swig every morning.

Arthritis, Be Well health tips, Health and Fitness, Keep Moving: Managing Arthritis

personal training results

February 23, 2015 betsyjbell

Gentle Reader,

I was wondering if I could walk to the car on my rubbery legs from the lunges with a weight vest on when PJ Glassey captured me on video. I had just finished my 21 minute workout with Dan this morning at the Xgym on Alki in Seattle. My goal in going to the Xgym 2 x a week for personal training is to increase bone density. At my next annual physical in Sept 2015, I’ll get that tested and report on the success. What has surprised me is the functional improvement in my daily life tasks.

Betsy X Gym Testimonial

Here’s one of the exercises, bench row with barbells.

I am in the middle of what they call splits: controlled small movements monitored for form, lasting until the muscles in use fatigue completely, about 4 1/2 minutes. Efficient and not damaging to joints. Can you see that it’s 25 lbs in each hand?

Two things: I have hiking friends who give me a run for my money without this kind of training. Some people are lucky with their genes and don’t have as much to overcome as I do. Secondly, I am convinced diet and supplements make a big difference in my recovery and improvement. I always take an after workout recovery drink Physique or the 180 smoothie Shaklee makes, to repair the muscle break down. The protein powder has leucine in it that heals muscle. I get enough protein every day from both plant and meat and fish sources, at least 100 grms. And I eat many servings of vegetables, beets, carrots, celery, kale, other greens, onions, tomatoes plus apples, raspberries and blueberries. No grains, or very little. It seems to be working to keep this arthritis-ridden body going. Hiking, anyone?

Be well, Do well and Keep Moving,

Betsy

www.GrandmaBetsyBell.com/be-well/ for more health stories and tips

www.HiHoHealth.com to shop for Shaklee products on my personal web site

206 933 1889 I still love to talk to people, answer questions, hear your stories.

Sign up today for my monthly Health4U newsletter for the latest Shaklee product information and special offers. Click here to sign up.

Be Well health tips, Health and Fitness

Dirty dozen non-organic foods

February 16, 2015 betsyjbell

Gentle Reader,

The following information will help you make healthier choices when grocery shopping. Organic food is worth money. Take care of yourself and your family. These are the dirty dozen non-organic foods to avoid.

I am grateful to my customer, Lanni, for sharing this web site with me. You can follow Garrick Dee, something of a guru for juicing, at http://www.juicingwithg.com/category/blog/. I hope this helps you at the check out counter justifying the expense of organic. It does make a difference.

Be well, Do well and Keep moving,

Betsy

Be Well health tips

Change Habits

February 7, 2015 betsyjbell

Gentle Reader,

Would you like to change habits? Is there something you have a core desire for but don’t seem to be arriving at it? May I share an insight I have had about my two core desires that have resisted the changes required to realize them?

I put on 20 lbs. my junior year in high school. I got too sick to swim competitively and finished the season eating the way I always ate when in training, but doing no exercise to burn off those calories. Boom! Twenty pounds; stretch marks; shock. The whole family got involved in Betsy’s weight problem, monitoring my caloric intake and my weight every single day at breakfast.

No will power! No will power! No will power! My brothers and father taunted.

The Yo-Yo dieting program began. I lost and gained those same 20 pounds (and 5 more) for the next twenty-five years. I owned three sets of clothes.

In 1985, I met Jayme Curley who encouraged me to address a number of “little” health issues by starting a wellness program of soy protein shakes and a group of vitamins every day. The protein shake became my breakfast, alone or as the liquid I poured over a small bowl of cereal. I started to lose weight. The Shaklee Company, whose products I was taking, brought out a Slim-up-and-Live program. With it came an audio tape by the same name. I listened to it faithfully each morning and evening before getting out of bed and before turning off the light. A soothing voice spoke.

Picture yourself at your ideal weight. Picture what you can do, running on the beach, playing ball with your kids, dancing for hours with airy steps, stamina and pleasure.

Picture yourself in a skinny pair of jeans, stepping in your car, driving to a friend’s, joining in the conversation with comfort, pride and confidence.

Without knowing the science behind it, I had changed my eating habits and I had created a new image of myself. The cue (boredom with the tasks of wife and mother) for eating a dozen cookies on my way home from grocery shopping, faded. New cues (excitement about the new pants I fit into) dominated, and I no longer reached for the packaged Lorna Doones. To eat cookies all the way home flew in the face of my image of myself in that bathing suit.

Charles Duhigg analyzes The Power of Habit, Why we do what we do in life and business, and presents his scientific findings about the formation of habits. Listen to this description of the five key points in his book by Thomas Frank, the college info geek.

The loop for cue > activity > reward is an unconscious habit and requires some work to figure out what the reward is you are craving when you do the activity. One of my core desires is to write a book. I go to my desk, turn on the computer, and instead of going to my project, I check email. After an hour or so, I struggle to redirect myself to the writing project to get the reward I want, a satisfying writing experience.

My cue was turning on the computer first thing in the morning. Examining the loop, I realized that the cue lead me to the wrong activity. Turning on the computer brings up gmail, often moving on to Face Book. I started to resent my core desire—writing the book. I was stuck and unclear about my next step. Gmail and face book provided a diversion from the discomfort my project caused.

First, I decided, as Duhigg suggests, to examine what was behind the gmail distraction. Wanting to connect with people. My house is quiet. I live and work alone. I feel disconnected from friends and family. Gmail fills this void. Or so it seemed. Unconsciously I turned to email and face book for that “Good morning, Betsy” contact.

What I realized was that it did not satisfy that longing for connection to read and respond to email. I needed to develop other ways and other times to get people in my life. Recognizing the poor reward this email activity provided my desire for human connection, I plan to call, email and arrange connections in the evenings and on weekends. I can make a change. I can enjoy the thrill of three fresh morning hours several days a week with nothing to do but write. My people reward will come later. My creative activity reward is immediate. I believe people will be there for me. All I have to do is organize it.

I am five days into this. Turns out, I didn’t believe I could change. Belief is a major ingredient in changing habits. Sunday night I had one bad dream after another. Every story line I began in my dream was co-opted by the computer which forced a story arc having nothing to do with my plot. It was as though the computer became Hal in the Space Odessey, taking over my mind. I woke up laughing at the power of the subconscious to twist a mind into knots.

On Monday, I managed to complete my morning stretches, meditation and short walk, return to the office and open my project WITHOUT looking at email. I knew there were several Shaklee business items that needed attention. I knew I had ample time after lunch to address them.

Monday was creatively productive beyond hope.

Tuesday was the same.

I completed all my business and household work.

Email took a fraction of the time. I made dinner arrangements with a grandson and snow shoeing plans with my girl friends.

Yesterday, I wrote in the Uptown Espresso and did not read email even though a little ping told me someone called.

Rewards? I wrote the next chapter. The one to follow is waiting for me to put pen to paper. I broke through the wall.

How can this discussion of habit help you? You might pick up Duhigg’s book. If you want to lose weight or stay faithful to an exercise program, eliminate seductive food from your food intake, figure out the cue that leads to the activity, and discover what the reward is.

My daughter who told me about this book realized she was anticipating a glass of wine the minute she stepped into the light rail car on her way home from work. She wasn’t happy with that habit. She decided to develop a new activity to get the reward. The reward was a signal to her system that her workday was finished. A short run would bring the same reward. Stepping into the neighborhood for a breath of fresh air and exercise said “release from work” with every step. To help with the anticipation, she took her running clothes to work and changed into them before her commute. Cue in place, activity (run), reward (ah, the workday is over).

For some of us, change comes more easily with a buddy. That’s why the 180 Turnaround Weight Management program provides so much support. In Dr. Jaime’s most recent talk, she describes the four tools to use to stay motivated.

Your scale,
your tape measure,
your body fat index and
your hand held food tracker.

Behavior Tracking Tools that shape a new habit

The four trackers are the tools that help form the habits you need to override the habits that got you over-weight in the first place. People weigh too often. People skip the tape measure part. They fail to make a chart where they can write down the change. Pants size can do this job especially if you have a skinny jeans waiting for your new body to show up. I was out with a friend the other night who proudly showed me her outfit and said she hadn’t been able to get into it for a long time, but now she could. What a motivator to keep going that little success is!

People weary of keeping track of their food intact. That’s why the hand held app can ease the pain and actually increase your conscious eating all day long. Shaklee’s 180 app is easy to use. Your phone is always with you. Just the act of pulling it out and recording your next bite will change your behavior. It becomes a habit. When you hit your goal weight, you will mentally be calculating the little indulgences if you have faithfully used that tool for the whole duration.

Calculating your body fat is simple if you have a new fangled scale that does that for you. At my Xgym, they run my stats every 6 – 8 weeks. I have consistently lowered my body fat even though I haven’t lost weight. Lean muscle is building every week. I haven’t been trying to lose weight. I have been trying to gain muscle so my bone density will increase.

Here she is, explaining the program.

Here is the best description of the 180 Weight Management Program available.

Be well, Do well and keep moving. If you would like a supportive guide in any habit change you want, I am here for you. If you have a habit changing method that works for you, please share with all of us. Betsy

GrandmaBetsyBell guides you to your ideal weight and helps you keep it off.

Arthritis, Be Well health tips, Keep Moving: Managing Arthritis

Pain Management

January 29, 2015 betsyjbell

Last week I questioned the wisdom of masking pain, asking if I might be missing a diagnosis by taking my Pain Relief Complex. Following up with you after 72 hours of no herbal pain tablets, I can tell you that taking them alleviated discomfort. Not taking them left me with the discomfort of aching hip joints, sore knee and ankle. The numbness in my right leg came and went, mostly went. I experienced a tough workout at the hands of JR at the Xgym, walked four miles up and down the hills of West Seattle, sat at the computer, drove the car, and attended meetings all without debilitating pain. I was happy at the end of the experiment to take a Pain Relief Complex before going to bed to insure a pain-free sleep.

I visited my chiropractor, David Kirdahy, during this hiatus. He found the usual pelvis miss-alignment, clicking and prodding everything back in place. He wondered if I might have a neuropathy in the right leg and foot. I was not able to give him specific cues as to the center of the numbness. It is hard to help with pain management when I can’t identify exactly where the pain is.

In answer to the questions, is there anything you can’t do because of numbness or pain? I had to answer, no.

I am left with the annoying unanswered question, in spite of advice from a neurologist and a nurse who read my blog post, if my activities are not impaired, why seek further diagnosis? I did that already in May of last year and have the report from the sports medicine doctor at the Polyclinic. Clearly, taking Pain Relief Complex is not covering up a condition that may need attention. I seem to be able to handle my pain management with all the measures I already use.

I wanted to show you a schematic of the COX 1 and COX2 pathways, but the pictures and science is too complicated for me to introduce here. I don’t understand it well enough to comment scientifically. I do remember the schematic the Shaklee scientist used to describe how Pain Relief Complex works. You can explore this for yourself if you are interested.

My intention here is to look at the more typical medications prescribed and over the counter that people use for pain management. The wisdom in the alternative world is that pain medication masks conditions and that pain is an indicator of something that needs medical attention. I agree with that, hence my experiment. What I have been taking for pain did alleviate discomfort. Stopping it did not reveal a condition that seems to require immediate attention.

Type of pain

Every one experiences pain differently. Some of us push through. Others of us want to eliminate the slightest hint of discomfort. Pain is a communicator from the body to us, telling us something is amiss. Pain management is different for each of us. If it weren’t for pain, we wouldn’t know to take our finger off the hot stove, or to rest with our foot elevated after spraining an ankle.

Pain can be categorized. Acute pain typically comes on suddenly and has a limited duration. It’s frequently caused by damage to tissue such as bone, muscle, or organs, and the onset is often accompanied by anxiety or emotional distress.

Chronic pain lasts longer than acute pain and is generally somewhat resistant to medical treatment. It’s usually associated with a long-term illness, such as osteoarthritis. In some cases, such as with fibromyalgia, it’s one of the defining characteristic of the disease. Chronic pain can be the result of damaged tissue, but very often is attributable to nerve damage. See WebMD. A third type of pain is psychogenic, the emotional side of physical pain.

The WebMD article classifies pain in a couple other ways: tissue damage or nerve damage; type of tissue or part of the body affected such as back pain or chest pain, muscle or joint pain.

Drug Therapy most often prescribed for acute or chronic pain

Milder forms of pain may be relieved by over-the-counter medications such as Tylenol (acetaminophen) or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as aspirin, ibuprofen, and naproxen. Both acetaminophen and NSAIDs relieve pain caused by muscle aches and stiffness, and reduce inflammation (swelling and irritation). Topical pain relievers are also available, such as creams, lotions, or sprays that are applied to the skin in order to relieve pain and inflammation from sore muscles and arthritis.

If over-the-counter drugs do not provide relief, your doctor may prescribe stronger medications, such as muscle relaxants, anti-anxiety drugs (such as diazepam), antidepressants (like Cymbalta for musculoskeletal pain), prescription NSAIDs such as Celebrex, or a short course of stronger painkillers (such as codeine, Fentanyl, Percocet, or Vicodin). A limited number of steroid injections at the site of a joint problem can reduce swelling and inflammation.

In April 2005, the FDA asked that Celebrex, an anti-inflammatory drug, carry new warnings about the potential risk of heart attacks and strokes, as well as potential stomach ulcer bleeding risks. At the same time, the FDA asked that over-the-counter anti-inflammatory drugs — except for aspirin – revise their labels to include information about potential stomach ulcer bleeding risks. [WebMD article on pain management]

A couple hundred milligrams of aspirin, or other NSAIDS, Tylenol or other acetaminophens for a short period of time, say 48 hours, is fairly safe. However, one of the most well known risks of painkillers is liver damage from acetaminophen. “Although [acetaminophen] has been used for years and overall is extremely safe, liver toxicity can occur with use of more than 4,000 milligrams in a day,” says Dr. Glaser. “This would be eight 500-milligram pills, which is the dosage of extra-strength Tylenol. Liver damage or failure may also occur at lower doses in those who drink alcohol regularly or who have pre-existing liver disease, such as hepatitis C.”

Because acetaminophen is often incorporated into other drugs, you may not be aware of exactly how much you’re taking, which further compounds your risk. “It’s also included in multiple other remedies for colds or sinus symptoms and is commonly paired with other stronger painkillers in medications such as Vicodin and Percocet,” says Glaser. “If an individual is not aware of this fact, he may unintentionally expose himself to amounts of acetaminophen in the danger zone.”

NSAIDs and Ulcers

Taking ibuprofen and naproxen doesn’t pose as great a risk to liver function as acetaminophen. However, some damage to the stomach lining is a possibility, which can lead to blood loss from the irritated area, stomach pains (gastritis), and even ulcers. This is also true of aspirin, which is related to NSAIDs and has many of the same properties. And if you use aspirin along with ibuprofen or naproxen, the risk to your stomach is even greater.

“Any of these pain drugs alone can cause ulcers, and using them together only increases the risk,” says Glaser. “All three of these medications reduce pain through their effects on the prostaglandin pathways.” Unfortunately, those same effects are what lead to an increased risk of gastritis and ulcer formation.

The prostaglandin pathways carry the pain signal to the brain. What these drugs are doing is interrupting the COX 2 pain pathway. Unfortunately these drugs also affected the COX 1 pathway, which resulted in stomach bleeding. Celebrex was the miracle when it came out because it did not cause damage to the stomach. Unfortunately for patients and for the drug company, Celebrex was implicated in heart attacks. [for further understanding of COX 1 and COX 2, go here.]

NSAIDs and Kidney Function

Though it’s rare, some people could risk kidney problems from using ibuprofen or naproxen. “A less common but severe complication related to these medications is kidney failure, which occurs more commonly in patients who have co-existing risk factors, such as diabetes or high blood pressure,” Glaser says.

Addiction

Some painkillers prescribed by doctors can become addicting, in particular Vicodin and Percocet which contain opiates. You can explore the internet to discover how high the abuse of these drugs has become, especially among high school students seeking to numb psychological suffering. If you have unused painkillers in your medicine chest, left over after surgery, get rid of them, especially if there are teenagers in your world.

But I digress, showing my bias against the use of medications. My original blog post tells my anti-drug bias.

There are many other options. My blog posts are full of them. I am particularly unwilling to take NSAIDS given the fact that I had Hepatitis C as a young adult, communicated by a dirty needle in the hospital when I was having a D&C after a miscarriage. In and of themselves, these drugs can be helpful. It is when they are used frequently and without regard for other conditions, such as high blood pressure, stomach issues, high consumption of alcohol. It can become a stew of interacting foreign substances.

Personally, I have found that the herbal Pain Relieve Complex does a pretty good job of keeping me pain free, along with chiropractic, Feldenkrais, frequent long walks, yoga, massage, Pilates moves and strength building training sessions at the Xgym. My trainers constantly check for good posture and make sure I avoid putting stress on joints that are compromised by osteoarthritis. Pain Relieve Complex is a COX 2 inhibitor. The Shaklee scientists found plant compounds that interrupt the pain path without any damage to the stomach or heart. I plan to keep doing what I am doing until break-through pain or severe numbness stop me in my tracks. Then I will check in with the sports doc for a new MRI. I am convinced I am not increasing my risk by waiting.

To understand how Pain Relief Complex works, click here. To order some from my personal Shaklee web site, click here.

I welcome your comments. It takes a village.

Be well, Do well and Keep moving,

Betsy

Arthritis, Be Well health tips, Keep Moving: Managing Arthritis

Do I need a pain diagnosis?

January 22, 2015 betsyjbell

Do I need a pain diagnosis?

I was standing in front of the piano along with my fellow choir members. Heading back to my seat, I realized my right leg was dangling from my hip. No feeling. Just a dead weight. While standing for rehearsal something, probably in my back, pinched off a nerve to the entire leg. Numb. If I took a step, would I crash to the ground?

This has happened before. I was alarmed by the numbness in late May of 2013. I was leaving in a few days for a writers’ retreat in southern France. While I have experience the numbness off and on during the past two and a half years, when it came on right before leaving for a 100-mile hike in England in May of 2014, I was worried. I remembered walking from Montmartre to the Shakespeare and Company bookstore on the left bank, talking to my right leg the whole way, “Lift, swing, step, lift, swing, step.”

The incident last week was much worse.

Dr. Kirdahy, the chiropractor who has been keeping me out of the operating room for years, was puzzled when I went to see him. “You have no pain?” “No” I reassured him. “I have no pain.” “How can that be?”

Maybe because I take Shaklee’s Pain Relief Complex first thing in the morning and as often as required to keep pain at bay all day long.

“What’s in this Pain Relief?”

Pain Relief contains two herbs: Boswellia and Safflower

Boswellia extract

A controlled clinical trial found that a daily dosage of 1,000 mg of Boswellia

Extract taken in divided doses significantly improved joint discomfort,

Knee flexion, and walking distance.1

In a clinical study, an extract containing boswellic acids was shown to promote

comfortable joint movement.2

Safflower extract

The benefits of the safflower are newly discovered in the West, but have a long

tradition of use in Asia.3

Kimmatkar et al. Efficacy and tolerability of Boswellia serrata extract in treatment of osteoarthritis of knee: a

randomized double blind placebo controlled trial. Phytomedicine. 2003;10:3–7.

Etzel R. Special extract of Boswellia serrata (H15) in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Phytomedicine.

1996;3:91–94.

Hsu HY. Oriental Materia Medica. A Concise Guide. 1986. New Canaan, CT, Keats Publishing Inc. and

Oriental Healing Arts Institute, Long Beach, CA.

[From the Shaklee Product Guide, a fact sheet]

I told Dr. Kirdahy I would come back next week after 36 hours without any Pain Relief Complex.

This chiropractic visit induced a search of the literature for the answer to my question: does pain help diagnosis?

According to Spine Health, because the causes of back pain can be very complex, it is often more difficult to get an accurate diagnosis for back pain than for other medical conditions. While some spinal diagnoses are relatively straightforward (such as tumors, infections, or fractures), for many conditions there is little agreement among spine specialists about a diagnosis.

However, getting an accurate diagnosis of the cause of back pain is critical, because different diagnoses will require very different treatment approaches. And the sooner an accurate diagnosis is made, the sooner the patient can find an appropriate treatment for pain relief and to improve his or her ability to enjoy everyday activities.

Pain is our friendliest enemy — it keeps us out of trouble even though it often seems to actually be the problem.

The body ‘locates’ pain near the surface quite well but has trouble indicating the source when the pain is deep. Pain from deep injuries, diseases or infections of organs, such as the heart, stomach, lungs and back may seem to come from somewhere else nearby or may radiate into multiple places. Intense pain may be more localizing but not always.

Therefore, when back pain is accompanied with other changes, fever, swelling, redness, heat, neurological problems or changes in body functions, the diagnosis may be sharper — and the back pain diagnosis may be more serious.

The milder backaches that one feels over one’s lifetime can generally be successfully managed by simple back pain treatments — rest, medication, massage, the application of salves, exercise, weight loss and learning to put up with it.

So, if the severity of back pain does not serve as a guide for when to see a physician, the question is how does one know? While there are exceptions, there are several generally accepted guidelines of when to see a doctor for back pain:

If the back pain has any of the following characteristics, it is a good idea to see a physician for an evaluation:

Back pain that follows a trauma, such as a car accident or fall off a ladder
The pain is constant and getting worse
Back pain that continues for more than four to six weeks
The pain is severe and does not improve after a day or two of typical remedies, such as rest, ice and common pain relievers (such as ibuprofen or Tylenol)
The pain is worse at night (most common forms of back pain are alleviated by rest)
Severe pain at night (e.g. pain that wakes one up from deep sleep)
Abdominal pain that accompanies the back pain
Numbness or altered sensation in the saddle area (upper inner thighs, groin area, buttock or genital area)
Neurological problems, such as weakness, numbness or tingling in the leg(s) or arm(s).

I have seen orthopedists, neurologists and sports medicine doctors for my chronic pain. Currently, I handle the pain with Pain Relief Complex, exercise, Back2Life machine every morning, and moving as much as possible during the day (sometimes a challenge as I am a writer!) So I would say I live my life pain free.

The above article persuades me that it is time to cut out the Pain Relief for a day or two to see just how bad this pain is. Before leaving for England last May, I had an MRI and a consultation with the Sports medicine doctor at my clinic. She told me I have several bulging discs, a normal condition in people my age, but that I was not at risk for hospitalization or major trauma on my hike. In fact, she assured me, the 100 miles hike would be good for me.

And it was.

The degree of increase in the numbness worries me. Doing without Pain Relief even for 48 hours worries me, too.

I’ll keep you posted. Next week, I will discuss the most common medications used to handle osteoarthritis pain, and why you might want to think twice about using them habitually. Stay tuned.

Be well, Do well and Keep moving,

Betsy

206 933 1889

betsy@hihohealth.com

Leave your comments. They help other readers and me, too.

Be Well health tips, Weight Loss

Think Thin

January 15, 2015 betsyjbell

Gentle Reader,

I hear “I’ve got to lose those extra pounds I gained over the holidays.” This cry goes up every year in January. The newsstands and grocery checkout lanes are full of magazines with the latest and greatest way to lose weight. Did you ever wonder why it is so hard to get to your goal weight and stay there?

Could it be a question of BELIEF? Perhaps you do not believe you can maintain your goal weight for the rest of your life. Perhaps you, like me, have gained and lost countless pounds never believing you would/could arrive at and remain at your goal weight from now on—even when the holidays came and you indulged a little more than normal.

This was my personal view for many years. Those extra 25 pounds just hung around, got lost and found themselves again. After the holidays, I would have to make a great big effort, increase the exercise program, go back to my fat clothes for a while and suffer. Not anymore.

What changed for me can change for you, too. I developed an enduring belief in myself at 140 instead of 160.

A little book called Mach II: With Your Hair on Fire, by Richard Bliss Brooke came across my desk recently. In chapter 7, he describes how we change our beliefs and how the new belief will create new results. He opens this chapter with this quote from the Bhagavad-Gita “Man is made by his belief. As he believes, so he is.” I will add Dr. Shaklee’s famous saying, “What you think, you look. What you think, you do. What you think, you are!”

In my case, I suddenly gained 25 pounds when I got so sick in high school that I couldn’t swim. I swam competitively and ate all I wanted without ever going over 137lbs: milk shakes after school, candy bars, fried chicken and mashed potatoes and gravy, biscuits with butter and honey, all that great Southern cooking available to me every day. My mother was so shocked at my sudden weight gain—along with the stretch marks on my thighs and breast—that an all out war on food ensued. My father and younger brothers got involved in weighing in Betsy every morning and counting her calories every night. Mother and I ate competitively, going for a 25 lb weight loss in a few months. We ate those appetite-suppressant chocolates called Aydes, grapefruits and nothing else for lunch. I can’t remember what other stringent means we concocted. You have probably done similar things to lose the weight you fight.

“We made up all the beliefs we have about ourselves. We made something up based on what happened, or what we thought happened, or what someone told us happened. And then, we went about learning to believe in those stories by listening to them over and over again” in our thoughts. I decided, based on my father and brothers’ words, that I had no will power and that I would never lose those extra 20-25 pounds.

“Human beings are not born believing anything. All we are at birth a clean slate for limitless possibilities.”

Brooke says the first step is “We give up our right to be right about us.”

Think about that statement. We give our right to be right about ourselves.

He goes on to explain “Most of us hold on to what we believe to be true—about life and most everything else—as if there were no possibilities for any other truth. Breaking through your barriers to success requires that you make up a new set of ideas of what’s possible, so that your possibilities support and empower your desires. It comes down to a new screenplay.

Sometime in the 80s, I started drinking Shaklee’s Energizing Soy Protein shakes and leading weight loss classes called Slim-up and Live. I listened to a 20 min. audio cassette in which questions or images were suggested. I listened every day, often more than once. At some point, I was a person who weighed 140lb.—not 160lb.—and my eating and exercise supported that vision, that belief. I gradually started to think thin.

Brooke uses an interesting analogy taken from the practice of dyeing cloth used by Native Americans. “Creating a new belief is like dyeing cloth in the old traditional way. Native Americans would take a piece of natural fabric and change it into a different color by soaking the cloth in a dye, squeezing it out, hanging it up to dry and set, and continuing the process over and over again until the cloth ended up the color they wanted—the color they thought was possible to achieve.

“At first there was little, if any, change in the color of the fabric. It took many soakings, rinsings and settings, and the change of color was gradual. Although at times the change was hardly noticeable, the new color deepened each time. After a while, this change accelerated, becoming richer faster, until soon there was no hint of the original color. The old color was gone and in its place was the new color.

“Our beliefs are created the same way. This ‘dyeing’ process with our beliefs occurs in the mind and is called imprinting. We have the extraordinary ability to create thoughts at will, and we can imprint those thoughts on and into our minds at will, as often as we choose—literally hundreds of times each day

“Like the depth of the color of a piece of dyed cloth, we can also control the quality and intensity (i.e., power) of the imprint we create. To the degree that our picture has clarity and detail, and can be expressed and experienced by our senses and emotions, our mind will respond to it as if it is a real experience. The richer and more complete the image, the greater its impact in and on your mind.” And on your behavior.

I have lost that cassette tape years ago, but found in Richard Brooke’s book, a series of questions very similar to those I used to change my belief so I would think thin. Ask yourself these questions and answer them with as much detail and specificity as you can to form a new belief in yourself.

What exactly is an excellent weight for you?
What exactly do you look like at that weight?
What is the shape of your body at that weight?
Describe the new lines, curves, contours and the definition of muscles you see now.
What do you think about when you see yourself in the mirror?
What does the scale indicate when you step on it?
How do your clothes fit?
What do your new clothes look like? How do you look wearing them?
How do you feel at this new weight?
Are you doing any new activities now? What do you like best about them?
What are people saying to you about the new you?
What are people saying about how good you look?
How do you feel about that?
Do you have any new attitudes?
Are you more confident…? more attractive…? more secure..?happier?

“You may think that your answers to these questions sound silly, contrived. That’s fine. Realize that your answers are providing a powerful clarity—your answers are filling your mind with a richness that’s the equivalent of having a real life experience.”

If you want to further the power and effectiveness of creating real-time present pictures of the answers to each of the above questions, write them out and then speak them into your computer’s recording device and make your own MP3. Play it to yourself as you exercise, ride the bus, do the dishes. You will create a new belief about yourself at your ideal weight. You will think thin. If writing out the details is too much for you, speaking these questions into a recording device and then pausing after each question, can be just as effective. Listening to the question with enough time after it to visualize yourself in this new ways is a powerful tool to changing your belief.

180 Turnaround Program

While you are programming your mind for success, it is helpful to have a weight management eating and exercise program to follow. I strongly recommend the Shaklee 180 Turnaround program for healthy weight loss. Right now is an advantageous time to participate as Shaklee has announced a major push to help people lose a total of 40,000 lbs. WOW! Big goal. Check it out here.

The 180 Turnaround Program not only feeds your body the calories, protein, fat and fiber it needs with two replacement meals a day, but also helps your body keep its lean muscle mass. Only the fat goes. This means your metabolism stays high and you continue to have good energy all day. Here is my youtube channel with success stories.

Think thin by changing your belief about your ability to succeed. Once you are at your ideal weight, continue to think thin and support your resolve by using the Lean and Healthy program. That’s what I have been doing for years. Those extra couple pounds from the holidays are gone already thanks to the Lean and Healthy program.

I’d be happy to help you get on a weight management path with all the support your want from me.

Be well, Do well and Keep moving, Betsy

206 933 1889

You may want find peace around your struggle with weight by working with Grace Bell, Eating Peace . In telecourses she asks, Making peace with food, not war, is so difficult for many. Where does it go wrong? What’s really going on? How can I become free again with food, and innocent as a child?

Be Well health tips, Health and Fitness

Hearing loss and dementia

January 8, 2015 betsyjbell

Gentle Reader,

I can’t hear you! Will you please speak up?

I noticed I was the only one asking for increased volume.

I arrived early for yoga so I could put my mat right in front of the instructor. Otherwise, I missed her instructions. The meditation went right by me.

I cupped a hand behind first one ear and then the other to hear the reader in our foursome at Louisa’s where several groups of four were taking turns reading aloud what we had written in the previous forty-five minutes.

One particular daughter speaks so softly that I missed half of what she said. Since she has the belief that I have not listened to her much of her life, this is particularly serious. I can’t be asking her “What did you say?” over and over. She might believe that I don’t hear her because I don’t listen.

At my annual physical this past October, I asked my doctor about this matter of missing things and straining to hear in certain settings. He referred me to the Polyclinic’s audiologist. Sure enough, I tested below 20—the line of perfect hearing—in both ears, the left one more severe than the right. A follow up visit with the ear/nose/throat specialist determined that the hard-of-hearing diagnosis is age related and not caused by anything that could be fixed with an operation. Surgery? Yikes. That had never crossed my mind. I had the closing conference with the audiologist. “Here is what we have to offer you for the best and most nuanced hearing enhancement.” Price tag, $6000.

I nearly fell out of my chair and watched my fall trip to Europe disappear into the realm of Never-Never. I became an observer of ears and noticed a lot of people have spent $6000 to hear better. Or have they? I talked to many and discovered there is an alternative. Costco. Suspicious of a quality discrepancy between private and warehouse medicine, I made an appointment to check it out. This required joining Costco. I am not a Costco shopper.

Luckily, for me, my audiology person at Costco had worked in the private sector before moving to Costco. She explained the difference—and it was not about quality. Sale of hearing aids is lucrative in private practice. The mark-up is unregulated. Medicare and Medicaid pay nothing for hearing aids. (I wonder if that will change when the results of several studies catch the public eye. More about that in a minute.) Doctors and clinics in the private sector of medicine are happy to have big-ticket items to sell and hearing aids are among them.

Costco on the other hand is all about volume and a low margin of profit, 5% in the case of hearing aids according to my specialist. They just cut a deal with the top of the line, Phonak, which angers the private practice audiologists. The batteries sell for $.23. And when you join, the Costco/Amex card charges the minimum monthly payment and no APR for 6 months, giving one a chance to space out the cost with no interest. To read an interesting discussion of Costco’s decision to sell Phonak and the industries reaction, click here. The ones I chose are the most nuanced as far as being able to move the volume up and down without taking the hearing aids out of your ears. The price? $3000, half the price for a better product.

I walked out of Costco on Christmas Eve with hearing aids and greeted 20 people for a stand up oyster stew and cocktails party a few hours later. I found it easy to turn the volume up and down as needed just by pushing a tiny button on the right (increase) and on the left (decrease). The apparatus is the size of a kidney bean and rests behind the ear attaching by a thin transparent wire to a tiny nub that fits snugly into the ear. I got the feel for inserting the nub with minimal practice. Later on Christmas Eve, the tympani, trumpets and organ needed quieting down. When my stepdaughter leaned in to whisper something during the service, I turned it up, adjusting quickly to meet the situation. In the past, I would not have heard her. Period. Now I could. On Christmas Day, twenty family members and friends sat around a massive table and I could hear every word, even the words not directed at me.

Since my hearing loss is not severe, why bother? Why not wait until it gets much worse? The audiologist told me that there is evidence that untreated hearing loss and dementia may be connected. The problem of a dramatic increase in the prevalence of dementia—doubling every 20 years—and the fact that preventing or delaying dementia is easier than reversing it, gave rise to a study of 635 people from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging.

The conclusion drawn from this careful study (2011) is that “Hearing loss is independently associated with incident all-cause dementia. Whether hearing loss is a marker for early-stage dementia or is actually a modifiable risk factor for dementia deserves further study.” If you are interested, I recommend you read the abstract which can be found here. They don’t know cause and effect, but the coincidence is there.

An earlier review (2003) of unattended hearing loss and quality of life studies came to this conclusion:

Uncorrected hearing loss gives rise to a poorer quality of life, related to isolation, reduced social activity, a feeling of being excluded, and increased symptoms of depression. There is a significant correlation between uncorrected hearing loss and reduced cognitive functions. There is no clear proof that hearing loss is the cause of the reduced cognitive function, but indirect evidence from some studies supports this hypothesis. If the hearing loss is indeed a cause of cognitive decline, this is a very strong argument for early detection of hearing loss and fitting of hearing aids. However, hearing loss and cognitive decline having a common cause is also a good reason for early detection and fitting of hearing aids: The cognitive decline will exacerbate the consequences of missed information due to the hearing loss. The more auditory information that is available, the easier it will be for the impaired cognitive system to process it successfully. Stig Arlinger, Department of Audiology, University Hospital,

Linköping, Sweden Negative consequences of uncorrected hearing loss––a review

No one is coming right out and saying, “Get hearing aids and avoid dementia.” Here, however, is an argument no one will disagree with, as remembered by my friend who wears hearing aids. It is posted on her audiologist’s wall.

The background is faint picture of a grandpa walking with his young grandson. The content goes something like this:
How much did my hearing aids cost? Let’s see–at least three good friendships, a lot of aggravation with my loving spouse, a regular bridge game, my grand children thinking I didn’t care about them, and many other activities that I used to hold dear like group gatherings, singing and going to the movies. The actual aids were really inexpensive!

If you have a little—or a lot—of trouble hearing, and haven’t taken any action to address this problem, why wait any longer? Whether you want to avoid dementia or increase your capacity to connect with people you care about, either reason is a valid push toward making that appointment. I am so glad I did.

Be well, Do well and Keep moving. Betsy

Arthritis, Be Well health tips, Health and Fitness, Keep Moving: Managing Arthritis

Sitting causes premature death

December 27, 2014 betsyjbell

Gentle Reader,

Sitting causes premature death. Wow, that’s a big statement. Imagine my surprise when an NRP report on the radio last week suggested that sitting will be the next “smoking” as a cause of early death. I have harped ad nauseum about the need to keep moving, but I didn’t think it would come to this.

“Sitting is more dangerous than smoking, kills more people than HIV and is more treacherous than parachuting. We are sitting ourselves to death.” Dr. James Levine, director of the Mayo Clinic-Arizona State University Obesity Solutions Initiative and inventor of the treadmill desk. Read more.

a work station that helps you keep moving.

A study conducted as part of the Women’s Health Initiative titled Sedentary Behavior and Mortality in Older Women concluded that the women with the highest rate of sedentary life had a 95% increase in death by all causes than the women with the lowest rate of sitting. The study was conducted with over 92,000 women aged 50 – 79; body mass, age, ethnicity, physical function, physical activity and chronic disease were taken into consideration. They wanted to know if there is a correlation between a sedentary life style and diseases of cancer, cardiovascular and coronary heart disease. Sure enough, there is. What we all intuited is a sure thing: you lose it if you don’t use it. Keep moving!

In the radio report, the final word was “the next position is the best position,” i.e. move.

A similar study was conducted by Kaiser Permanente with over 85,000 men aged 45. The research covered 10 years of self-reporting for activity outside of work. Men with the lowest level of physical activity were more than twice as likely to develop heart failure than those in the most active group (7.8 heart failure cases per 1,000 person years compared with 3.8 cases). The men who spent the most time sitting were also more than twice as likely to develop heart failure than those who sat the least (8.8 heart failure cases per 1,000 person years compared with 3.8 cases).

For a lot of us this is bad news. We sit at our work, sometimes for hours at a stretch. I sit for hours in front of my computer. My “to-do” list everyday includes multiple tasks that require sitting at my desk. Many of us have office jobs where we are chained to our desks. Even work that requires moving around a fair amount includes several long stretches sitting at the computer.

In the study involving men, it didn’t matter what they did for work. Only their activity outside of work was considered. Apparently a man who moves all day at work but sits all evening and on the weekends, is not protected by his physical activity on the job. I find this “outside of work” fact to be particularly interesting. KUOW reported on this study in January of last year.

What happens to the body when we sit for long periods of time? The effects are scary.

Muscle atrophy. Mushy abs; tight hips; limp gluts. You have to work your muscles to keep them.
Organ damage. Heart, pancreas and colon begin to malfunction.
Foggy brain. Slow circulation and a bent neck cause poor brain function.
Soft bones and bad back. Joint health in general deteriorates when there is prolonged sitting. Avoiding osteoporosis requires weight bearing movement.
Type II Diabetes risk increase It takes movement to get insulin into cells and control blood sugar
Cancer risk increase Colon, endometrial and possibly lung cancers in particular
Obesity increase even without an exercise program, simply moving more throughout the day keeps fat away
Depression risk seven hours of sitting a day greatly increases depression

Benefits of moving are legion. My daughter Priscilla, personal trainer and group exercise specialist, is a strong proponent of the benefit of aerating your body. She believes that a half hour of vigorous exercise a day will flush the impurities from your blood and carry away bacteria, viruses and other unwanted invaders from your system. When your circulation slows down, blood pools, clots could form.

Sitting on an airplane is one of the worse things you can do to your circulation. For those of us who love to travel, the 9 – 12 hour flights can be deadly. For those who have to fly for work, here are some tips to keep moving in the air. Flex your calves. “Your calves are often called your second heart because of the role they play in helping pump venous blood from the lower extremities,” says Leslie Kaminoff, a yoga therapist and breathing specialist in New York. Something as simple as tapping the feet will also create movement in the shins and thighs, and even in the hip joint. Drink a lot of water because it will force you to get up and head for the lavatory.

I find that when I get up from a prolonged seated position, I have more pain and stiffness in my joints. I have noticed that if I can make myself take a short walk, the pain eases. In college I used to walk around the dorm reading, mostly to stay awake, but, I now realize, I needed to move then, too.

Working at home as many people do nowadays, you have to create a schedule for moving. I use a timer to remind me to get up. I might garden for 20 minutes; fold laundry; check on the chickens. The biggest problem with interrupting yourself as an at-home worker, is getting back to the desk. You could look at the clock and realize you’ve been in the garden for two hours. It requires vigilance and discipline to take a break, move, and get back to work.

Digestion issues from sitting too long, the pancreas and colon sluggishness, can be corrected so easily. Just a short walk will get things moving. I have a friend who takes a walk with her husband nearly every night after dinner. She’s the lovely person who introduced me to Shaklee and a whole new way of life back in 1985.

This article gives suggestions for moving: sit on a ball, walk around during commercials, get out of your chair and stretch the hip flexors every hour or so, get a standing work station (I found several references to using a treadmill desk) and do the cat/cow yoga exercise several times a day. Some of these are easier than others in an office setting.

Imagine what would happen if the Surgeon General of the US decreed that movement is a health necessity, not just a health benefit.

Sitting is often a relief, a relished pleasure when you are worn out from cooking, shopping, cleaning house, wrapping packages, wandering through an art gallery and you just can’t wait to sit down. I love that instant comfort that comes from collapsing into a chair or sofa. Fine. Enjoy. Just don’t let 4 – 5 hours go by in that sitting position before you get up and move again.

All the best for this holiday season. Get out and take a walk, snow shoe, ski, shoot baskets with your kids and grandkids, dance. I’ve just started attending my oldest daughter, Grace and Jon, her husband’s Free Form Dance Dance on Saturday mornings. What a joy to move my body to great music for about 80 minutes in a big room with a wall of glass looking out into trees, and a group of people all joyously moving according to their inner guide!

Want to have a long, engaged, active life?

Be Well, Do Well and Keeping moving.

Betsy

206 933 1889

www.HiHoHealth.com shopping for Shaklee

Arthritis, Be Well health tips, Keep Moving: Managing Arthritis, travel

Chronic disabilities won’t hold you back

December 19, 2014 betsyjbell

Gentle Reader,

Chronic disabilities won’t hold you back. Get out and explore the world. If by my bravado in the face of aches and pains irritates you, my intention is not to belittle, but to inspire. This story inspires me. It may seem as though I am never down, but leap about all the time. I do get grumpy when everything hurts and I will do anything to sit down for a few minutes to rest my back, hips and knees. So, I’m with you if you are one of the people caught up short by arthritis.

Joan and Polly — Jaon and Polly at the Botanical Gardens

I just spent twelve days in Mexico with three companions, two of whom use support for walking: a walker and a hiking stick. All three are several years older than I which puts two of them in their 80s. I worried when I invited them to accompany me to my lavish time-share in Nuevo Vallarta because the walking distance from the unit to the pool is quite far. There are steps involved. Any trips into Puerto Vallarta and beyond would have uneven pavements and sketchy handicap access. Only in the USA is there a preoccupation for the welfare of a handicapped person.

So imagine my relief and my delight when these gals said, “Yes” to every adventure, walked the vast campus of the Gran Mayan complex, took a public bus home from the Puerto Vallarta Arboretum way south of town and climbed the steep ramp to worship at the great church of the Virgin of Guadalupe in downtown PV.

CAM02072[1] — Waiting for the taxi in Boca de Tomatlan

For five days before the four of us met at my time-share, my sister-in-law and I vacationed at a beach cottage at the far south end of Bandera Bay. She found it on Vacation Rental by Owner (http://www.vrbo.com/465074), La Casa de las Olas. To get there you have to take a taxi from the Puerto Vallarta airport all the way through the city which lies in the center of the Bay, to the town of Boca de Tomatlan. At this village, the coastal highway 200 turns up into the jungle covered mountains touching the Pacific again just northwest of Manzanillo. In Boca, we were supposed to meet Raul Ramos, a fisherman with an open panga, a high-powered motor and the keys to La Casa, our destination on a beach several coves along the coast. Because my s-in-l’s plane was 5 hours late and because neither of us had cell phone or internet coverage, we had no way to telling Raul we would be very late. Undaunted, we set out at 10 p.m. for Boca, routed out a guy drinking beers in the beach restaurant where we were supposed to rendezvous and asked him to help us find Raul. He knocked on the door of a boat owning Raul who appeared toothbrush in hand, wearing boxer shorts and responding, “I’ve got a boat. Let me put on a shirt and I’ll take you to Quimixto.” “Fine,” I answered him in Spanish, “but you don’t have the keys nor do you know which house it is.” Our taxi driver, wild with worry at what I would try next, begged us to let him take us away from this little town with no hotel and go back to civilization where he could put us down in safety (and go home to tell his wife and neighbors about these two crazy old ladies who insisted on climbing into a boat at midnight). We found a Best Western along the way and set out again the next morning, this time with charged cell phones and phone numbers. We were happily in the hands of Raul before noon who settled us into our fabulous beach cottage. Getting into his boat in Boca and out again in Quimixto required wading in the surf and climbing in. My s-in-l was guided onto the gunwales and Raul lifted her stick in and then each leg; then hefted our large suitcases into the open motor boat. On the beach in Quimixto, we had to reverse the process, tottering on Raul’s arm from the surf up the beach to our cottage. That was courageous of my s-in-law. She made it with fierce determination.

Once we were settled and had a look around, we were smitten by the place: an unbroken view of the ocean, waves crashing just beyond the low wall; majestic native trees rising out of pale blond sand; pelicans swooping along the wave crests; the occasional horsed rider passing by on the beach. Raul’s wife brought us a fabulous dinner of fresh mahi mahi and homemade tortillas. I made fresh lime margaritas and guacamole from the groceries I had bought in the Mega Comerciante while waiting for my s-in-l to arrive. The kitchen was a dream to cook in with its gas stove, big counter and all the condiments you could ask for plus every insect repellant you could imagine. I did get a few sand flea bites, but no mosquitoes. The air was fresh, the stars brilliant after the full moon set. The hammock perfectly located on the veranda. We each had our own bedroom and bath, not luxurious, but homey and comfortable.

The next day we decided to see the village of Quimixto knowing there was a stream to cross. The “steam” turned out to be a wide river, slow moving and shallow, thank goodness. My s-in-l used her sticks and her water shoes.

I put on my tevas and replaced them with walking shoes on the other side. The village is about five cobble stone paved blocks along with a pier at the far end and a few shops, an open church and a primary school plus private houses along the way. The little harbor is full of open fishing boats.

Vallarta Adventures brings a boatload of tourists from the cruise ships in to Quimixto and takes the people walking through town to a corral where 20+ Mexican ponies wait. Once the tourists are saddled up and instructed, they file up a trail to a dramatic waterfall about a mile and a half up into the jungle. I decided to walk this and had to cross the “creek” four more times, climb quite a bit to a bar perched on the edge of a deep pool into which the waterfall plunged. The tourists arrived by horse back after I had my viewing spot picked out, a good place to watch them jump in the water, haul the brave ones up hand over hand to a ledge and shoot down the water fall’s natural sluice. Enterprising locals had souvenirs for sale and one man offered me a giant iguana for a picture. And a tip, of course.

In the other direction from the village, a trail ran along the shore and then climbed to a long undulating ledge to another cove and another village, this one much larger though still accessible only by boat. Perched on this trail’s hillside amidst the jungle plants is a yoga center, sleeping cottages stair step up to the main yoga room at the top. The place is only 3 years old. http://www.xinalaniretreat.com/ Check it out. I walked the trail below the center, across their beach and up into the jungle towards Las Animas beach, about two miles along the coast. Believe me; I will take my hiking sticks with me in my suitcase every time I travel from now on. This trail was steep and rugged, rising and falling to streamlets.

Besides describing the wonders of this place, I want you to understand that my s-in-l suffers from neuropathy caused by complication that developed after a knee surgery. For two years now she has had a hard time walking, going numb in her foot and lower leg and the other knee is bone on bone. But, she is determined to continue adventures and will not sit down in resignation.

At the Grande Luxxe, Polly, Liz, Joan and I used the golf carts and trolleys to get from place to place on the vast campus, and walked miles to the beach, restaurants, the Santuario nightclub and to take taxis off on adventures. With careful on line research, I was able to locate an accessible restaurant right in the middle of the art galleries. We spent time admiring the art and talking to the artists, taking advantage of the weekly Wednesday art walk. The restaurant, if you are looking for fine cuisine and atmosphere, is Café de Artistas. The violin and piano duo rank right up there with the finest musicians and have a unique electronically connected way of playing together without occupying the same space. Hence, the violinist could wander throughout the many spaces and you heard them as if they were playing in the same room.

Walking to the main street that runs the length of the center of Puerto Vallarta, we watched several groups of Peregrinantes making their pilgrimage to the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Typically, the groups come from parishes in the area, businesses, hotels and schools. They choose their theme which could be a float with a Virgin surrounded by the Bishop and Juan Pedro, the Indian whose miraculous vision of the Virgin is celebrated for twelve days. Other themes are dancers, flute, and drum players in Aztec costumes. We happened to be on the street corner when a motorcycle club roared to a standstill and waited their turn to process toward the church. Each group enters the church when their turn comes, brings their offering to the Virgin, receives a blessing and then disperses to the central square or along the streets where food booths invite with local delicacies: roasted ears of corn, flat bread, cups filled with cut melon and pineapple, freshly made tortillas, enchiladas, and so on. It is a logistical nightmare for some organizer and seems to work. Every group has its moment in church beginning at six and going until midnight. A Bishop is there at midnight on the 12^th, the actual Saint’s day.

On Sunday, we attended the 10 o’clock mass which was in English and Spanish. The nave was packed with ex-pats and there were a few missals in English for the people who got their early. A visiting choir sang magnificently. We looked at each other with tears in our eyes, the music was so beautiful. Most churches in PV have no choir so this was a special treat. Talking with the soprano who sang the Ave Maria, (we met her at Starbuck’s after church); we found out that she grew up in the States singing in girls’ choirs. She got her first job after college in the American School in PV teaching the kindergarteners and immediately searched for a choir. She finally located one in the Iglesia del Refugio. It was their choir who so inspired us. I’ll know where to attend mass the next time I am in Puerto Vallarta.

Another brave adventure was a trip to the spectacular botanical gardens

south of town in the mountains above Quimixto, https://www.vbgardens.org/ , the

brainchild of a group of ex-pats. Several years ago, they bought an bontanical gardns

old ranch, and its Hacienda de Oro is authentic Mexican residence, now restaurant set above the Rio Los Horcones. Birds and butterflies abound. They just opened a new Conservatory of Mexican orchids housing a collection of orchids from many regions of Mexico, some very rare. This was my third visit. I have hiked the trails through the jungle and gone skinny-dipping in the beautiful river, but this time stayed close to the orchids, Hacienda and other plantings.

Returning to Puerto Vallarta is when the adventure began. We decided to take the bus, which meant getting from the Hacienda to the highway, an uphill cobblestone drive of 200 yards, more than either a walker or a pair of hiking sticks could manage. A gardener offered to take my companions on his ARV. What a sight! Unfortunately, climbing on was almost too much for bum knees, but we all survived, managed to board the bus and ride to the center of Puerto Vallarta. Whew!

The buses run on Basilio Badillo Street which is full of art galleries, a large blown glass sales room which specializes in exports, and an oasis restaurant owned by a Canadian. We went in there and had the best, most refreshing sangria I have ever been served. A great ending to a glorious adventure and everyone feeling all their limbs, joints and bones still functional. Pretty amazing.

In conclusion, I will say that the best adventure is the one you are determined to take, regardless of your challenges, walker, sticks and all. Attitude makes the difference. These ladies were brave and resilient even when the circumstances were difficult. If you can, go, and don’t let chronic disabilities hold you back. Next year you may not be able to go.

Be well, Do well and Keep Moving,

Betsy

206 933 1889

Drug Therapy most often prescribed for acute or chronic pain

Be Well, Do Well and Keep Moving